The Ascending Staircasehttps://sophiebannister.wordpress.com
Mon, 19 Mar 2018 21:03:25 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/https://secure.gravatar.com/blavatar/7e2ee5fe3cbe49d203e86d390ce4dc59?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.pngThe Ascending Staircasehttps://sophiebannister.wordpress.com
Can One Be Moral In a Secular Society?https://sophiebannister.wordpress.com/2015/01/20/can-one-be-moral-in-a-secular-society/
https://sophiebannister.wordpress.com/2015/01/20/can-one-be-moral-in-a-secular-society/#commentsTue, 20 Jan 2015 22:32:05 +0000http://sophiebannister.wordpress.com/?p=186Continue reading]]>This was originally written for a scholarship to The Academy, a summer school run over a long weekend by the Institute of Ideas. I won a scholarship for the second consecutive year, and attended The Academy in July 2014.

Note: the essay was limited by a word count. What you are viewing is the original, hich I have not expanded in any way. Hopefully one day I will be able to add to it and explain my points better. For now, it remains a brief overview of my opinions on the question posed.

Morality has repeatedly been associated with religion throughout history. It can be traced back to Ancient Greece and the poetry of Homer, where heroic humans would mirror some of the behaviours of the Gods and thus be considered ‘moral’. In the Judo-Christian tradition, morality comes in the form of God’s commands. ‘Immorality’ is the result of these commands being broken.

In the UK today we no longer live under the constant image of a God that demands we obey; religion and the state are slowly separating and so it could be argued that we are now largely a secular society. Without the strong influence of religion in our society, our national perspective has changed. Today, without the veil of Christianity over us, abortion is considered acceptable; adultery is no longer punishable by death; Sunday is no longer a day of rest.

This does not necessarily mean we are an immoral society. Instead, it means that times have changed and old laws must be revised. One particularly prominent change is within medical science; although the Hippocratic Oath has been an important part of the morality of medicine since it was formed in Ancient Greece, today it is contested. New technology allows us to keep people alive though they may be ‘brain dead’. The killing of such people is against the Hippocratic Oath, which states that a physician must do all in their power to keep the patient alive. Yet many would argue against keeping such people alive, whose life as they once experienced it has deceased, even though the technology to do so is available.

Even with the breakdown of historical traditions such as the one above, our secular society should not be labelled ‘immoral’ as the intrinsically good decision here may be to relieve the patient’s suffering and allow them to die. Peter Singer takes this further in his work, ‘Taking Life: Humans,’ by arguing that a disabled infant should be allowed to die soon after birth if this decision is consented by the parents; what once would have been considered shocking in a religious society is here argued logically and with morality in mind.

Many religious leaders would argue that to allow a state to become secular would lead to immoral government decisions. Giorgio Agamben’s ‘Life that does not deserve to live’ suggests that a secular society that can create a Welfare State for societal good can thus form a regime like that of the Nazis. However, secular societies throughout the world proved their morality by overthrowing this regime and halting the prejudices that it created. This, in itself, was the intrinsically good thing to do and thus proves that morality is still thriving in societies where religious authority is waning.

Although there are many other examples to prove this point, I believe that the above argument logically shows that our secular society has not lost its morality; rather, morality has been redefined to suit the times in which we live.

Exams have finished and everybody’s assignments are finally in. Now there is only one problem that university students are facing; how should you celebrate the end of the academic year? The standard student night out isn’t memorable enough, and going for a meal is a bit of an anti-climax. Luckily for the students of Manchester Metropolitan University’s (MMU) Humanities, Languages and Social Sciences Faculty (HLSS), there is the End of Year Ball.

Although this is only the second year that it has taken place, the event is quickly becoming a well-established part of the faculty calendar. This year, it fell on the 30th May at the Palace Hotel – down the road from the university campus. Tutors and students of all years and every different discipline within the faculty donned their best dresses and black ties for the glamorous event. Upon entering the venue, guests were greeted by masquerade-inspired characters, teetering upon stilts. Through this welcome, the masked-ball theme of this year’s event was revealed. It was embellished further by costumed burlesque dancers, and by carnival masks at every place setting on the extravagantly laid round tables that filled the hotel’s Grand Room. Guests tried on their masks and admired the decorations as they waited for the event to formally get underway.

The evening began with a speech from the Dean of Faculty, Dr Sharon Handley, who welcomed everybody to the event, and spoke of the close ties of friendship that are prevalent between so many students and staff within the faculty. Sharon urged the students who are graduating to stay in touch as well as wishing everybody luck for the future and thanking the event organisers.

The speech finished and the night began. With a raffle, three-course meal, burlesque dancers, live band and multiple photo booths, the night was packed full of things to do and see. The entertainment on offer was endless, keeping everybody amused right up until the last minute.

Before the party got underway, the guests were treated to a delicious meal; the catering staff at the Palace Hotel really know their way around the kitchen! With tomato and basil soup for starters, a main course of beef brisket with dauphinoise potatoes, or gnocchi for vegetarians, and a light but tasty lemon tart for dessert – everybody was talking about the food. Sitting and eating around the table with friends was an excellent way to start the celebrations.

Once the guests were feeling a little less full (and that took a good while due to the sheer quantity of food eaten), it was time to start working the room. Groups of people queued to get pictures taken, with a choice between a professional photographer and a rather quirky photo booth, complete with fancy dress items. Meanwhile, others danced as the band, the Volantes, got underway. Well-known tunes by popular artists like Amy Winehouse, The Killers and Bon Jovi were belted out for the guests, who responded with some pretty varied dance moves. From ridiculous dad-dancing to some impressive Michael Jackson impersonations, everybody seemed to be in their element – even the tutors couldn’t resist the lure of a dance floor!

Soon enough, suit jackets were slung over the backs of chairs and heels were thrown under tables as everybody let their inner student out to party. It may have been a formal event but hey, let’s be serious, the formalities were never going to last the whole night. And really, it was better that way; the event represented perfectly what everybody had worked towards this academic year, blending the formal and serious side to university life with a chance for everybody to let their hair down and celebrate their achievements.

I caught Leonie Moore, who organised the Ball, towards the end of the night. The relief on her face spoke volumes for the event’s success, “Everybody seems to be happy,” she grinned, “It means it was all worth the effort.” I couldn’t agree more; the HLSS End of Year Ball was a brilliant night filled with memories that will not be forgotten lightly. It was the perfect way to celebrate the close of another academic year and, as the guests around me began to flock to Odder Bar across the road for the after party, they were only speaking of how successful the night had been. Hopefully this event will become a yearly tradition for the HLSS Faculty that will continue for many years to come.

Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) recently played host to a high-profile guest. Lily Cole – supermodel, actor, and environmental and humanitarian activist – was invited by MMU’s Big Impact Project to speak to staff and students about sustainability and her website, impossible.com.

Personally, I was very excited by her impending visit; Lily, admiringly, works on whatever project she views as interesting and important, which is why her career so far has been rather colourful. Another reason for my excitement is that, alongside Amanda Wright from MMU’s Environment Team, I was given the opportunity to interview Lily for the event. Yet as I approached the lecture theatre, my excitement faded and I grew more and more nervous. I had never interviewed a celebrity before. What was she going to be like? What if I messed it up?

Lily arrived and brought with her a sense of infinite calm. Dressed casually in jeans and an oversized shirt, she was completely relaxed throughout the entire event. During the interview, she was confident in her answers, speaking directly to the audience and asking questions of her own for us to ponder. After an introduction by MMU’s Ryan Waugh, who organised the event, we spoke about her innovative project that is bringing people from all over the world together – and, in fact, brought her to MMU to speak to us –impossible.com.

Impossible is a community in which knowledge, skills, freebies and time are offered and received by those who use the platform. It is all about non-direct return, so don’t expect to get something back for helping strangers, though when your turn to ask for a favour comes around you may be pleasantly surprised with the response.

Lily said that, as well as reaping the benefits of a gift economy, Impossible “Creates relationships between people and releases body chemicals that make people happy.” It seems that universities are one of the best places to trial ideas like this; “I’ve always been interested in university as a place for Impossible,” explains Lily, who believes in universities as open-minded spaces, where people can explore new ideas and meet new and different people. This is exactly the attitude that the website suggests and impresses upon its users, which is why it was tested in universities first.

Like the Big Impact Project at MMU, Impossible is all about small acts building together to make a big difference. To show this, each member of the audience received a small tag made of card as they entered the event, upon which they could write their own personal wishes and also the skills that they can offer to others. These tags will be made into a wishing tree in MMU, joining us with cities like Sydney, Cambridge and sites within America where Lily has previously created these trees. It is a great way to link people together through what they want to achieve and what they can give in return.

Lily, when asked about the charity work she has been doing to aid environmental and humanitarian causes, stated that David Attenborough is an influential figure for her work, and that global warming is the single biggest problem we face today. She said, “If we don’t have [the environment] to rely on in 50 years time, then every other issue will be superseded by that.” So what can we do about it? The best way to tackle many of the environmental and humanitarian problems facing us today, according to Lily, is through a combination of charity work and good business ethic. Lily believes that this is the best course of action, so she is currently channelling her energies into building good, ethical businesses and helping to support the ongoing work of the Environmental Justice Foundation.

Of course, this particular project may be difficult for students and staff like those present from MMU to achieve. Instead, Lily gave some practical advice on how we, as individuals, can make a difference; she explained that we each have a political voice, which we assert every time we buy something. One of the ways in which we can change the tactics of big businesses is by thinking carefully about what we choose to buy and adopting a ‘buy less, spend more’ mantra. This not only tackles some of the environmental problems that our throwaway society is creating, but also paves the way for a fairer economy; buying cheaply does not make sense when you think of the amount of people who have helped make the item. Lily also urged people to reap the benefits of the gift economy by doing things for others without considering the monetary gain, and to be open to those people trying to help you. Most importantly, she insisted that you should not be afraid to fail. Impossible nearly failed multiple times, yet perseverance has made it a successful and a vitally important online platform that everybody across the world can benefit from.

The event was insightful and influential. Lily, who is currently playing Helen in The Last Days of Troy at the Manchester Royal Exchange Theatre, has shown her passion for the charity work that she is involved with. As people filed out of the lecture theatre, they were thanking Lily, talking about Impossible and filling in their wish cards. Witty and knowledgeable, Lily Cole has definitely inspired all who were present to go out into the world and try to change things for the better.

On Friday night, the Town Hall put its fabulously Gothic decor to good use as the venue for the Mayor’s official welcome to the Gothic Manchester Festival. A strictly invitation-only gala, the event involved speeches by Professor Berthold Schoene, Director of MMU’s Institute for Humanities and Social Science Research (IHSSR), Dr Linnie Blake and Dr Xavier Aldana Reyes, the festival co-ordinators, as well as the Lord Mayor himself.Corresponding with the opening of the Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies, the festival has been taking place all week at various sites across the city. It had been extremely well-received so far and plans are already underway to make the gothic celebration an annual occurence. Of the festival, Berthold said, ‘We want to show to the public what we get up to in the faculty research-wise, and why it matters to everybody’.

The atmosphere of the room was one of pride in all that has been achieved so far this week. Leading lecturers in Gothic Studies, such as David Punter, Dale Townshend, Justin Edwards, Maria Beville, Monica Germana, Tracy Fahey and Benjamin Brabon all joined in the celebration, mingling with MMU staff and other members of the public who have helped to make the festival such a success. Even the weather joined in – we were treated to a dark, wind-swept, drizzly night equalling any that may appear in Gothic films or novels.

The Lord Mayor believes that the Gothic Studies Centre is a brilliant initiative for the city, placing Manchester at the heart of some of the most important postgraduate literary research in the country. In his speech, he said, ‘Manchester is a city that is being transformed, in a comprehensive and dynamic way, into what we believe is the strongest performing research centre in the UK’. Of course, the festival can only help to strengthen this claim by bringing together some of the greatest Gothic minds in the country and allowing the public to venture deeper into the dark pits of Gothic Studies through its brilliantly insightful events.

The festival has been a huge success; co-ordinator Xavier explained that they have aimed to create ‘something that would be meaningful to everyone involved. Something that would showcase the excellent work in the Gothic that is taking place at Manchester Metropolitan University’. Truly, it has achieved this and more. Looking around the room, people are beaming. When the project was still in the planning stages, nobody realised it would become so wide-spread and profound.

As a child, I read a lot of Malorie Blackman books, so I was unbelievably excited to find she was holding an event as part of the Manchester Literature Festival. In preparation, I got out my (rather old) copy of Noughts and Crosses to take along with the hopes of getting it signed. It had been a while since I’d read the book so I casually flicked through to the first page and was instantly hooked all over again.

Malorie, recently appointed Waterstones Children’s Laureate, has such a brilliant imagination and a wonderfully fluid writing style, which appeals to adults just as much as children. MMU lecturer and author Jackie Roy, our interviewer for the event, explained that she believes this is because Malorie ‘respects younger readers. She never talks down to them in her books’. In person the author is bubbly and cheerful, and was more than happy to sign my book. I must admit, I felt a little bit star-struck.

Before the event began, I spotted and spoke to the Bookwitch. For those of you who don’t know, Bookwitch is a blogger. She attends literary events, reviews books on her site and isn’t afraid to speak her mind – which makes her rather notorious in the literary world. I asked Bookwitch what she was expecting from the event and the blogger explained that she’d only seen Malorie at talks for adults, so she was expecting a better atmosphere with many schoolchildren present. ‘If Malorie’s with Jackie Roy, I also think that will bring out the best in her’, she added. The event didn’t disappoint.

The platform décor was subtle; there was a cheerful image projected onto the back wall and a single, squashy-looking couch centre stage, framed by a couple of small tables holding water for the speakers. Malorie and Jackie sat down, looking comfortable, with big grins on their faces. Each is a big fan of the other’s work so this must have been a real treat for them both.

Jackie’s questions brought out more about Malorie’s life and it became ever clearer that the author has had to tackle many obstacles to get where she is today. As a child, her father disliked the idea of her reading fiction; the only books in their house were non-fiction and he insisted that you could not learn anything from stories. Luckily for her readers, Malorie disagreed and spent her Saturdays in the library, reading as much as possible.

Malorie used to love reading comic books – and still does today. Unlike some of her school teachers, she believes that any form of fiction that gets children reading is useful and this includes comic books. ‘Children have the right to read rubbish’, she laughed. It was revealed, with a little prompting from Jackie, that her bestselling book, Noughts and Crosses, will soon be appearing as a graphic novel. I cannot wait!

As Malorie typically deals with very controversial topics, sometimes her readers wonder whether there is anything she thinks is unsuitable to write about in teenage fiction. ‘I think it’s in the way it’s done. I don’t think there is any topic I wouldn’t tackle’, she explains. Looking at her new book, Noble Conflict, it highlights the respect she has for her readers in this sense. The main character, Kaspar, has to choose between becoming a whistle-blower and fighting against authority or allowing horrendous acts of torture to continue. Not only is this shocking and politically orientated, but it is very relevant today. As in all Malorie’s books, there are no easy answers in Noble Conflict, as she prefers to raise questions instead. “Each and every one of us has a voice and we have to know that, we have to believe that, we have to stand up and use it”, she told her audience.

I caught up with Jackie Roy after the talk. A few years ago she held a Malorie Blackman event as part of the Manchester Children’s Book Festival, even though Malorie could not be present. How did Jackie feel this event went in comparison?

“I think it went really well”, she said. “Today was massively better because we had Malorie in person – and you can’t ask for more than that.”

WARNING: Manchester Metropolitan University’s Geoffrey Manton building is infected. Do not enter under any circumstances. Zombies walk among us.

Botting started his talk by stating that,‘with zombies, there should be no hesitation, no parentheses, no question, no question marks’, which is completely contrary to his lecture’s title, Zombie (?). Unusual, yes. However,he moved quickly on to use zombie books and films, includingWorld War Z, Way of the Barefoot Zombie, The Zombie Survival Guide and two non-fiction books both called Zombie Economics,to explain that the question mark and parentheses in the title of this lecture are vital. They are necessary in order to explore why western society seems so fixated on the figure of the zombie. We were presented with a startling questionthroughout the lecture – are the zombies already here?

Botting highlighted the humanity behind the zombie, or possibly the zombie within us, emphasising lines of erosion between them and us, the humans. Zombies are a dead — or undead – end; a figurehead to demonstrate how society struggles with issues ranging from economics to cultural identity. The lecture turned to philosophy, more specifically, the claim that zombies may already walk among us. ‘Some of your best friends may be zombies’, Botting quoted while examining philosopher Daniel Dennett’s work on the subject. How can we tell? Well, a zombie is typically an autonomous being, dehumanised by capitalism, controlled by consumerism.

In economic and political terms, he explained, the societal zombies are those who are plagued with spiralling debts. As has become more and more common, people today seem only to accumulate debt in their attempts to rid themselves of it. As Botting aptly put it, they are the people who have bitten off ‘more toxic debt than they can chew’. The purpose of these zombies becomes rather singular as they are trapped by their debts; ‘One can neither kill it, nor escape it’,Botting explains. It seems that these are the zombies to avoid. Personally, I’d suggest not venturing out during the night and staying away from city centres. If the movies are anything to go by, this tactic will not only be good for your purse, it may also save you from any potential zombie apocalypse.

Of course, we can no longer speak of zombies without referring to the satirical, the ironic and the romantic sides of the genre. ‘In a zom-rom-com’, Botting pointed out, ‘there’s a kind of banality to the horror’.We need look no further than recent movies such as Shaun of the Dead and novels like Warm Bodies and Breathers to see his point. Moreover, these stories seem to blur the idea of what a zombie is, by giving them human aspects, and sometimes even depicting the remaining humans as zombified and trapped, whilst their undead counterparts find love, religion and roam through the abandoned cities.

Botting ended with a quote from the novel, Way of the Barefoot Zombie. It was a thoughtwhich, at some point, we have probably allwished certain characters from zombie movies or literature would comply with – ‘I couldn’t help thinking it would be easier to lie down and get it over with’.

Fred Botting’s talk was the first in a series of Contemporary Gothic lectures for MMU’s ‘Humanities in Public‘ (HiP) Festival. This series attempts to ‘act as an introduction to the Gothic’ and ‘aims to explore the value of Gothic Studies today’.Botting encompassed this brief wonderfully and –with a little help from some zombie friends –gave the audience plenty to consider as they walked out through the (thankfully zombie-free) atrium and wearily into the dark night.

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]]>https://sophiebannister.wordpress.com/2015/01/20/professor-fred-botting-do-zombies-walk-among-us/feed/0sophiebannisterArt and Awe at the Whitworth Weekending Festivalhttps://sophiebannister.wordpress.com/2015/01/20/art-and-awe-at-the-whitworth-weekending-festival/
https://sophiebannister.wordpress.com/2015/01/20/art-and-awe-at-the-whitworth-weekending-festival/#respondTue, 20 Jan 2015 20:38:46 +0000http://sophiebannister.wordpress.com/?p=155Continue reading]]>This post was first published on 19th September 2013 via Humanity Hallows.

Whitworth Art Gallery closed its doors earlier this month with a bang and a spray of colour in the form of the Whitworth Weekending Festival, and (lucky me!) the whole thing took place five minutes from my house. The festival, which was mainly based outdoors in Whitworth Park, was the perfect way to end an era – as the Art Gallery closed for refurbishment.

A friend and I ventured over on the Saturday night. It was already dark when we got there, adding a layer of mystery and suspense to the atmosphere, and the park we knew so well was transformed – multi-coloured umbrellas dangled from high in the trees, circus-style tents were spread across the green spaces and Whitworth Art Gallery glowed an eerie purple. There was much to see and we spent some time wandering without purpose, in quiet awe of the different artwork we encountered.

Unexpectedly, the music on the stage stopped. Drums began to beat across the park. People began to move toward the sound and, like sheep, we followed. Everybody in the crowd was laughing and joking. I heard someone, rather wonderfully, refer to the crowd as ‘following the Pied Piper’ – an apt insight. We would not be returning to Whitworth Art Gallery as we’d once known it. We were being led away from the old, to await the new.

The beating drums led us to the front of the Art Gallery where, after some impressive dancing and fire acts, there were fireworks. Perfectly timed to the music, the fireworks display was brilliant. They were set off from the lower roof of the building, shooting through the air and amazing the adults as much as the children. We all sang along to the well-known songs, whooped and cheered, and generally regressed back to our six-year-old selves. Magical.

Consisting of three days of celebration, the festival brought together a wide variation of art forms – from music and mosaic, to fireworks and story-telling. There was something for everybody, all wrapped in an atmosphere that was laden with both creativity and a brilliant sense of community.

I returned to the park by daylight on the Sunday. The festival was winding down – artworks stood in the park completed and proud, and people were slowly leaving for home. It was still beautiful but somehow it was sad. Wandering among the trees, I found myself hoping that Whitworth can manage to retain this wonder and mysticism, and not change what it stands for during its refurbishment. Hopefully it won’t, although maybe another festival is in order to kick-start the gallery when it re-opens in summer 2014. I don’t know about you, but I’ll certainly be there.

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]]>https://sophiebannister.wordpress.com/2015/01/20/art-and-awe-at-the-whitworth-weekending-festival/feed/053.459182 -2.23001053.459182-2.230010sophiebannisterShould we celebrate the death of Western high culture?https://sophiebannister.wordpress.com/2013/05/30/should-we-celebrate-the-death-of-western-high-culture/
https://sophiebannister.wordpress.com/2013/05/30/should-we-celebrate-the-death-of-western-high-culture/#respondThu, 30 May 2013 21:25:53 +0000http://sophiebannister.wordpress.com/?p=148Continue reading]]>Recently, I wrote a 500-word essay in the hopes of winning one of the scholarships available to go to the The Academy run by The Institute of Ideas. Basically, it’s a long weekend in a luxury complex in which I get to learn and talk about literature, philosophy, politics etc. based on a list of books as long as my arm (so much for uni being over til September…).
Anyway, I won one! Hooray! Went to my uni library today and took out all of the books I could find that were on my list- because I’m too poor to buy them all- then sat there flicking through and learning who Thomas Hobbes was.
I’m actually mega excited, especially because I never thought my essay would be good enough. Yet apparently it is, so I thought I may as well pop it up here and see what you guys think. The question was the title of this post; should we celebrate the death of Western high culture?

As a student of English, it seems appropriate to focus upon Western high culture within literature. Although this may, on the surface, seem rather limiting, the study of literature incorporates many other aspects of high culture such as classics, history, philosophy, politics, and religion, and is therefore a rather accessible way into analysing high culture’s impact in today’s society. In particular, I shall consider the importance of the literary canon within today’s culture.

Today, some critics consider the canon a dated, almost crude way of categorising literature. It is predominantly made of “dead white European males”, suggesting that ‘good literature’ is decided by a confined list which ignores the categories of gender, ethnicity, and class in our society. Arguably, this leads readers to hold a single-minded view of the world and thus, encourages discrimination. However, many canonical writers have been revered for generations, so it could be considered tragical to loosen their grasp on the literary world; one way to deduce whether their texts are still vital is by concentrating on Roland Barthes’ idea of ‘the death of the author’, and considering the impact of a text, rather than its author, on present culture.

If we contemplate the impact of literary texts on popular culture, we may gain an insight into their relevance. As Harriett Hawkins identifies in Classics and Trash, there are two ways to examine literature. Firstly, there is its artistic influence which, for writers like Shakespeare, is legendary; in popular culture, Baz Luhrmann’s modern remake of Romeo and Juliet was a runaway success with those who previously found Shakespeare inaccessible, whilst Disney utilised the plot of Hamlet to create its animated classic, The Lion King. In these terms, Shakespeare is vast and influential upon today’s culture, as it was in the sixteenth century. The second way to categorise a text is through its academic status. Here, Shakespeare continues to influence, yet is ‘anathematised in arguments the have less to do with his artistic influence than with his academic status’ (Hawkins). This statement, if credible, shows the cultural hang-ups of such labelling as invariably comes alongside the canon.

In other types of popular culture, scientists and historians have recently discovered our natural sleeping pattern with the help of Charles Dickens and Homer. By recognising a difference between the typical night-long sleep and the different sleeping patterns of characters described within Dickens’ novel, Barnaby Rudge and Homer’s epic, The Odyssey as well as other sources, our knowledge of ourselves has arguably been refined by canonical literature.

And so, to my final thoughts on Western high culture within the literary world; no, we should not celebrate the disappearance of the prolific texts within the canon, but we should be thankful that the elitism and the canon itself, which affects our understanding of these texts is slowly dying. The persistent moulding that surrounds high literature must diminish for, as Martin Amis wonderfully describes it, literature is ‘Eden; it is unfallen and needs no care’.

]]>https://sophiebannister.wordpress.com/2013/05/30/should-we-celebrate-the-death-of-western-high-culture/feed/0sophiebannisterI Love Pancakes!https://sophiebannister.wordpress.com/2013/02/14/i-love-pancakes/
https://sophiebannister.wordpress.com/2013/02/14/i-love-pancakes/#respondThu, 14 Feb 2013 00:07:12 +0000http://sophiebannister.wordpress.com/?p=146Continue reading]]>I had a late Pancake Day today as I’ve only just got home to the family. It was brilliant – my mum got so many treats to lavish on our homemade pancakes. Here’s a picture of mine wrapped up with vanilla ice cream and raspberry sauce in the middle. Delish! (Sadly, there’s a problem with ice cream on pancakes; it makes the pancakes go cold too quickly. I know I should have realised this, but the temptation was far too great to dismiss.)

Yet this means that tomorrow, for us anyway, is the beginning of (a slightly late) Lent. Now, I’m not particularly religious and neither is my family but we have made a tradition of giving up all our sweet treats for 40 long days and nights. Therefore, from tomorrow I won’t be eating chocolate, crisps, sweets, fizzy drinks or biscuits until Easter. And no baking for over a month. It’s going to be tough, so wish me luck. I’m probably going to need it.
Hope your pancakes were as good as mine. Happy Pancake Day!

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]]>https://sophiebannister.wordpress.com/2013/02/14/i-love-pancakes/feed/0sophiebannister20130213-234936.jpgMy Own Great British Bake Offhttps://sophiebannister.wordpress.com/2013/02/13/my-own-great-british-bake-off/
https://sophiebannister.wordpress.com/2013/02/13/my-own-great-british-bake-off/#respondWed, 13 Feb 2013 00:09:57 +0000http://sophiebannister.wordpress.com/?p=143Continue reading]]>I suppose, looking through my blog, it looks like I do rather a lot of thinking. Which I do. But I also have other hobbies that I use to take my mind of everything else, one of which is baking.
It all started when I was a child; from a young age, I was taught how to bake by my nan. I loved tracking my progress. To begin with, I’d be allowed to cut out the shapes, then progressed onto mixing the dough together, then promoted to carefully rolling out the mixture, learning how to stop it sticking to the surface and how to get an even thickness.
Every year, we used to create shortbread biscuits with bright primary-coloured icing, chocolates in the shape of teddy bears and fairy cakes to sell for the Children in Need charity. My love of baking stems from those carefree days.
I have now inherited my nan’s old cookbook, a veritable treasure trove of treats and delights. I have used it, kept it safe and added my own recipes over time. Though it is fragile, it is wonderfully inspiring.
It is both the act of using this cookbook and of baking itself that calms me, reminds me of happy childhood days, takes away my stresses. I don’t have to think past how much flour to use and whether a little tweak in the recipe will make for a better final product. It is a balance of methodology, careful judgement and creativity. There is always a wonderful sense of pride when the oven is opened, the sweet smell rushes out to greet your nose, and the product sits there looking perfect. Brilliant.

Cookies are my favourite; they’re easy to make, don’t require much equipment and the housemates seem to love them (so do I, to tell you the truth. Much better than the dry store-bought sort). However, I always enjoy tackling a new, more complicated recipe, though preferably in my parents’ house with their better equipped kitchen! After all, there is only so much you can achieve in a university student’s kitchen. I made a cheesecake over Christmas that went so wrong during the making process that I never thought it would work. Yet, with the magic of an oven and a few crossed fingers, it came out perfectly. Thank goodness; cheesecake’s my favourite.